Knight makes 33 saves, Bertuzzi scores twice for Chicago
CHI at CGY | Recap
CALGARY — Connor Bedard had a goal and three assists, and Spencer Knight made 33 saves in a 4-0 win for the Chicago Blackhawks against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.
Bedard extended his point streak to seven games (15 points; six goals, nine assists), which is the second-longest of his NHL career behind a nine-game point streak last season (Dec. 21, 2024 – Jan. 10, 2025).
“I’m playing with great players that are making the game easy on me,” Bedard said. “Sometimes the points come, sometimes they don’t. For me, it’s just about the process and getting chances, making plays and that’s when [the points] come. There’s going to be games where I don’t get any and there’s going to be stretches where I don’t get any, but I just keep trying to make plays and be productive in that way and hopefully they come.”
CHI@CGY: Bedard earns four points in 4-0 victory
The shutout was Knight’s first this season and sixth in the NHL. It was also his first with the Blackhawks.
“I thought it was a really good team effort,” Knight said. “Guys played really hard in all areas of the ice … defensive zone (and) from what I could see from my side, the offensive zone looked good, neutral zone was good. We’re really committed to working hard, so that’s good.”
Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice, and Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (7-5-3), who have won two games in a row after starting their six-game road trip with three straight losses (0-2-1).
“Obviously, it’s good,” Bertuzzi said. “Back to back wins on the road, long road trip. These are hard games to win, especially on the back of a road trip when you’re on the road for 10 days. Really good team win.”
Dustin Wolf made 23 saves for the Flames (4-10-2), who had won their past two and were shut out for the first time this season.
“We just lacked our structure,” Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. “You could feel the sense where during the first period, it felt quiet. There wasn’t much energy. Half the guys had some energy, half the guys didn’t.”
CHI@CGY: Knight holds Flames scoreless in 4-0 victory
Bertuzzi put the Blackhawks up 1-0 with a power-play goal at 12:32 of the first period when he tried to redirect a backdoor pass from Bedard at the left post, but the puck deflected off his left leg and into the net.
“He’s so good at that,” Bedard said. “It looks easy, but it’s really not. That’s why not many guys can do it as good as him. He’s so good at making himself big and getting a stick or leg or chest on it, whatever he has to do. It’s fun for me to always have that as an option.”
Bertuzzi increased the lead to 2-0 at 1:11 of the third period when he lifted a cross-ice pass from Bedard past Wolf. It was his sixth goal in the past four games. He also had a hat trick in the third period of Chicago’s 5-2 win at the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.
Burakovsky buried a wrist shot from the slot at 7:56 on another set-up from Bedard to make it 3-0.
“I wasn’t a fan of our game tonight,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “To me we were slow because there was a lack of execution in a lot of places with the puck, without the puck. Lots of issues for us.”
Bedard scored at 18:01 for the 4-0 final. He forced a turnover from Flames forward Morgan Frost in the offensive zone and went backhand-forehand before tucking the puck past Wolf.
“I tried to read what he was going to do and try to get my stick on the puck and I was able to do that,” Bedard said. “Then it was just kind of 1-on-1 with the goalie and just tried to make him bite one way and fortunately it worked out for me.”
NOTES: Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau had a six-game point streak end (seven points; three goals, four assists). … Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar left the game in the first period after colliding with Flames forward Joel Farabee. “As of right now, it’s day to day, but we’ll know more tomorrow,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. … The last Blackhawks player with at least 15 points during a point streak was Patrick Kane in six games during the 2021-22 season (three goals, 12 assists). … Calgary defenseman Zayne Parekh took a hit from Chicago forward Nick Foligno along the boards and left the game in the second period. “He’s going to miss a little bit of time,” Huska said. “I don’t know the extent of it yet. We’ll find out some more tomorrow.”
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